


Dog Eat Dog

by justalittleweird



Category: Naruto
Genre: Always Female Inuzuka Kiba, Awkward Romance, Dai-hachi-han | Team 8 (Naruto)-centric, F/M, Family Feels, Genderswap, Growing Up, Kiba-centric, Matriarchy clan ftw, Ninken | Ninja Dogs, Team Bonding, Teen Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-05-10
Packaged: 2019-05-05 03:37:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14608437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justalittleweird/pseuds/justalittleweird
Summary: There's fire in the blood of the Inuzuka clan, and Kiba's going to make sure the world knows about it.





	Dog Eat Dog

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! I've fallen into the Naruto world again. I've written for the fandom before but I was like 13 and those fics are long dead now, you can thank me later.
> 
> I love Kiba as is in the show. I think he and the rest of Team 8 are the best (although I love basically all of the Konoha 11).
> 
> BUT, I thought writing a female Kiba would be interesting seeing as his only family (besides the clan) are both really awesome females. So, I wanted not only a female Kiba, but also a matriarchal Inuzuka clan with Tsume as the head. Team 8 will now also be a two-to-one female genin team with a jounin-level kunoichi, ayyyyy. 
> 
> This is Kiba-centric, along with the rest of Team 8 once they form. It will follow our Kiba through family problems, the newly formed team, the Chunin Exams, and everything that comes after that and a little into the time when Naruto leaves to train with Jiraiya. 
> 
> Everything I write is un-beta'd so please feel free to point out any mistakes! 
> 
> Thank you all <3

   The night was still and silent. Despite herself, Inuzuka Kiba was still awake and beginning to lose herself in the murkier places of her mind. Darkness blanketed her cluttered room, and on a whim she decided to use her enhanced senses to inspect her home, the largest house on the Inuzuka clan’s estate.

   Akamaru was beside her, as he always was and would always be. His little body lay curled up to her right, in the space between her shoulder and neck; her loyal friend tried to always rest between his charge and the entrance to her bedroom, acting as a sort of gatekeeper between her and whomever decided to disturb her sleep.

   With her delicate sense of smell, Kiba could pinpoint the scents of older sister, Hana and her grown ninken triplets. They were all a few doors down, in Hana’s room. With her sensitive hearing (which admittedly wasn’t as developed as her smelling abilities), she could tell by their heartbeats that all of them, Akamaru included, were as deeply asleep as a shinobi could be. Kiba didn’t need any of her heightened senses to know her mom was away on a mission, along with her own frightening-looking ninken, Kuromaru. The two had left while Kiba slept, however their mother did wake Hana to inform her of their forthcoming absence.

   That was a week ago, and neither of the sisters knew when their mom would be back.

   Kiba stared at the ceiling and let her anger wash over her. She hoped her mom never came back.

   Immediately after the thought she felt her rage rush out her body with an exhale, and as she inhaled a deep sense of guilt that overtook every nerve in her body. No, she didn’t want that at all. She knew if her mom didn’t return from whatever harrowing task the Sandaime sent her on, Kiba would rush to the nearest shrine and pray to the gods to rectify her sinful wish. All while sobbing violently. Hana would hate her, and Akamaru would too; Kiba would hate herself the most.

   Argh, but why did the woman have to make her so damn mad all the time?!

   Kiba faintly remembered accidently overhearing some of her distant second-cousins or whatnot gossiping about the latest screaming match between the hot-headed clan leader and her equally as abrasive youngest daughter:

    _“It’s just your typical teen-angst, that’s all.”_

_“Tsume’s temper is legendary, one of her daughters was bound to inherit the trait and throw it back at her, poor woman.”_

   And throw it back Kiba did well. Too well. It felt like the two had been in a never-ending fight since Tsume bestowed Akamaru on her daughter and then sent the pair to conquer the Academy. But it seemed like nothing she did was ever enough to get her mother off her hide...

* * *

 

   Kiba tucked into herself to dampen the force of her body hitting the hard dirt of the clan-estate’s private, small training ground. She didn’t feel Akamaru on her person, and so rolled with little grace. When she came to a stop it was on her stomach, her limbs sprawled around her. The fur-lined hood of her grandfather’s old jacket had pitched up enough that it fell over her eyes, completely obscuring her vision. If she were fighting against an enemy, Kiba knew she’d certainly be dead by now. Although, that outcome wasn’t entirely out of the picture as she felt the waves of frustration from her mom roll off as swiftly as any ocean.

 

   “You’re not taking this seriously Kiba! This isn’t play-time, its training!” Her mom’s low-pitched, raspy voice almost always intimidated whatever ears it reached, especially when it rang out as it was at the moment.

   For Kiba, all it did was feed the ire in the pit of her stomach.

   She flung herself up on her knees and tore the hood off. Beside her, Akamaru let out a small whine.

   “I’m doing the best I can! I have been training and I can do this, just let me-!”

   “How do you expect to be a competent kunoichi when you can’t even defend yourself?! Get up, take your stance and prove to me you and Akamaru deserve to at least graduate from the Academy!”

   Kiba shot up onto her feet before she even thought about it and fixed a hard glare at the woman opposite, ignoring the steely one-eyed gaze of the wolf-hound that stood alongside her mom.

   “ARGH, I DON’T NEED TO PROVE ANYTHING TO YOU!”

   Internally, Kiba cringed as her voice seemed to echo around the grounds. Even those without acute hearing probably heard her temper escape her. Again.

   Her mom’s posture went rigid and Kuromaru let loose a deep growl. She spoke in an flat, chilling tone.

   “I’m not going to stand here and be disrespected by you, not after the pathetic excuse of a fight you just gave me. You need to be better, for the clan. For Akamaru.”

   Her words sunk into Kiba’s bones like a thousand thin needles, making every muscle in her body. Tsume’s bellowing might be renowned in the village, but it’s the stillness and steel in moments such as this that show the raw wrath she holds within.

   The older woman strode by her daughter, stopping only for a moment to lowly say, “Be better for yourself, Kiba.”

   Her ninken followed his charge silently. Kiba bit her lip and spared a glance over her shoulder. She watched her mom walk into their home, wordlessly passing Hana, who had come out to stop their verbal match before it escalated to something unreasonable. Hana stared at her younger sister with open sympathy. It made Kiba to bite her lip harder, her canine teeth drawing blood easily. Her body trembled with a blazing fury that she sometimes feared.

   She turned sharply on her heels, fully intending to march inside the house and yell at her mother till her throat was raw and bleeding, but one look at Hana’s now hardened eyes deterred her. So, she picked up her worried little companion and walked away. That day she just walked and walked, until she was surrounded by nothing but Konaha’s large trees. Standing there, she tried to let the cool breeze and sounds of nature ease her stress; the familiar weight of Akamaru was usually so comforting. Nothing soothed her, so she put her friend on the ground and started punching and kicking the surrounding trees with blind fury, leaving deep scratches in the bark.

   By the time the red in her vision faded, her knuckles were bloody and her the bottoms of her feet were sore. Night had come and she needed to go home before her clan’s ninken were sent after her trail. If Kiba could convince her sister she’d calm down some, Hana would probably heal her wounds. Probably.

* * *

 

   ...Back in her bed, Kiba rolled her eyes at the uninvited memory. It felt like every huge fight they had was about Kiba’s lack of commitment or strength or abilities…at this point she felt her mom was unimpressed with everything she had to offer. They would snap at each other about anything, from how often dirty laundry had to be washed to why exactly Kiba had to greet every blood relative she ran into. The intrusive memory was the row that had been the last before her mom left on her newest mission. For the two days before Tsume was sent out, Kiba avoided her like she was infected with rabies. It honestly wasn’t difficult with the clan abilities. She knew when her mom was out of the house and sensed her when she was coming back.

   Dinners were kind of tricky, as the three Inuzuka women usually spent them together with all their canine companions. However, when Kiba and Tsume were on each other’s really bad side one would usually opt out of sitting at the family table. After the last row it was Kiba. She was pissed and sulky, and all she wanted to do was be in her room whenever she had to be at home. She did need to eat though and cooking was on the list of her weaknesses (another thing her mom yelled about). It was always Hana or Tsume that cooked supper.

  Hana, the bitch, refused to make early servings for Kiba and Akamaru when they were the ones who refused to eat at the table. So Kiba would just wait until her family finished their supper and vacated the dining area. Usually, Hana barricaded herself up in the study to pour over veterinary texts. Their mom would take Kuromaru and Hana’s triplets out on a perimeter check of the estate. Kiba would use that time to grab some food and drinks for the night, let Akamaru out for a bit, and then the two would lock themselves back in the bedroom when they sensed Tsume and her caravan returning.

  The first night her usual plan worked well, and she only paused in the kitchen when she saw a serving tray that held two plates of food and a large mug of tea on the counter. She knew it was for her, but she didn’t know if Hana or her mom set the tray. In the end she didn’t really care and just took it back to her room.

  The second night, Tsume convinced her eldest daughter to enjoy some after-dinner sake. The two women drank and chatted for almost three hours while the youngest of the bunch paced and steamed in her room. When at last the women retired to their usual nightly activities, Kiba all but ran to the kitchen. Waiting for her was a prepared tray of food again. She wanted to flip the damn thing over on principle alone, but a rumbling from both Akamaru and her stomach urged her to take the offering, and so she did just that.

  She had stumbled out of her room the next morning to find a note from Hana that simply stated _“Mom and Kuro gone away, make your own breakfast brat.”_

  Akamaru let out a soft whine in his sleep and Kiba felt one of his little legs twitch. She smiled softly and nudged her cheek against his soft fur.

  Shinobi who didn’t have ninken often viewed the dogs as just another weapon. Yes, the hounds were trained not only to be exquisite at tracking, but also deadly in battle. But anyone who had ninken knew the dogs were more than just what they trained for. The bond between a ninken and their master must be iron-clad with loyalty, and the Inuzuka clan believed that loyalty extended both ways.

  Kiba loved Akamaru with all her heart. The two had yet to face enemies as shinobi, but she knew when the time came the duo would excel in their teamwork. It frightened Kiba sometimes thinking about when that time came. She didn’t know what she’d do if Akamaru ever got hurt, or worse, by enemy hands. But she knew even now that she was willing to die for him, even though she knew the dog would try his best to stop her. Despite her friendship with Choji, Shikamaru, and even the idiot Naruto, Kiba felt closest (and calmest) with her little pup.

  When Akamaru’s head suddenly perked up, it was about a second after that Kiba understood why. A familiar scent hit her nose, and she could hear two faint heartbeats in the distance. Her mom and Kuromaru were back, and they were just outside the estate and making their way home.

  Kiba wondered if her mom knew she was awake. After such a long mission it was possible Tsume was chakra-depleted, possibly even injured.

  Before even thinking about it, Kiba shot out of bed holding Akamaru. The floor was cold but she ignored it and quietly stepped out of her room. It was dark outside though she knew it was early morning. She carefully walked down the hallway. When she passed Hana’s room one of her ninken perked his ears up, but made no further movements.

  The entire house was dark, but Kiba’s canine eyes could see everything perfectly. With a sleepy Akamaru tucked in her arms, she waited by the entrance of their sitting room and faced the entrance doors.

  About ten minutes later she heard her mom’s weary steps walk onto their porch. The protective wards around their home flickered as Tsume fed a familiar pulse of chakra to them and stepped inside, allowing her ninken to enter first. The old wolf-hound didn’t even glance at the young girl as he walked past her and into the sitting room where a hefty, well-used dog bed could be found. Kiba never took her eyes off her mom.

  She looked dusty from travel, and her shoulders were slumped from exhaustion. There was a cotton bandage over her left eyebrow, but that was the only visible injury Kiba could see. Her mom took a moment to reinstate the protective wards then took a few steps to stand in front of her daughter.

  With her large hand and pointed nails, she began to scratch Akamaru. The pup thanked her with some gentle bites to her fingertips.

  “You have class in a few hours.” Tsume’s voice was low and gruff, her tone something akin to fondness.

  Kiba refused to acknowledge the slight warmth from inside her chest at the sound. She hadn’t heard that voice in over a week, but she’d rather bathe a cat than ever admit to missing her mom.

  “Are you hurt? Do you need me to wake Hana?” There. A reasonable and very neutral question to ask.

  The older woman stopped her friendly ministrations on the pup and began to walk past Kiba, towards the kitchen. Kiba followed.

  “No, I’ll be fine. I stopped by the hospital earlier and they patched up the worst of it. Not that it was too bad to begin with. The other guy had it much worse.”

  Kiba held back a snort, knowing that ‘the other guy’ was probably dead.

  Tsume began to reach into the cupboards but Kiba stopped her.

  “I’ll make tea!”

  Her mom just blinked at her.

  Kiba blinked back and hoped she wasn’t blushing. “…I’ll make tea,” she repeated, “You just sit down…and then you can go to sleep, okay?”

  She didn’t wait for an answer from her mom, just pushed Akamaru into the woman’s arms and quickly began to gather the necessary things to brew a ginger blend she knew her mom drank after every mission. _I’m glad you’re home._

  Unknown to the young girl was the toothy, lopsided smirk on her mom’s face as she made her way into their dining room, Akamaru dozing lightly on one of her forearms.

  “You’re still going to classes today,” she said while walking away, knowing well that her daughter would hear. _I’m glad you’re glad I’m home._

  Likewise, the clan-head didn’t see the same smirk on her daughter’s face as she was preparing the tea.

  Yeah, Kiba would go to class tomorrow, but she knew it wouldn’t be hard to convince at least Naruto to skip the day with her.

**Author's Note:**

> So what do we think? Let me know!
> 
> Next chapter will be the some Team 8 bonding!


End file.
